The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that telecom infrastructure be considered as general infrastructure to make tax benefits available to the sector.
In its Telecommunications Infrastructure Policy recommendations, the regulator stated, “In view of the growing importance of telecom infrastructure in the development of the country, the need for creating a conducive environment for the development of the infrastructure in the country cannot be overemphasised.
“Therefore, the Authority has recommended that telecom infrastructure should be treated as essential,” it added.
The regulator has recommended bringing telecom infrastructure companies under unified licences. On the issue of telecom infrastructure providers facing several problems with local civic authorities, TRAI has recommended that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) should fix a time limit of 45 days for grant of permission by the local authorities.
TRAI also recommended the introduction of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) in the proposed unified licencing regime.
“A unified licensee who does not possess spectrum should be allowed to work as an MVNO in any licensed service area. The unified licensee ceases to be an MVNO if it is allocated spectrum for accessing subscribers,” it said.
The regulator also recommended that there should be no restriction on the number of MVNOs attached to a mobile network operator and has said that an MVNO cannot be attached to more than one network operator in the same service area.
The regulator in its recommendation has mandated deployment of distributed antennae systems in 63 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission cities within 18 months after an optical fibre network has been implemented in these cities under the National Broadband Plan.
